Science for Judges

Judges generally do not have the training of a scientist, but may be called upon to make decisions involving scientific evidence.

The University of Nevada, Reno has published course material for Judges entitled A Judge's Deskbook on the Basic Philosophies and Methods of Science.

1. Introduction and Overview
   
2. The Judicial Role in Evidentiary Decision-Making
   
3. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science
   
4. Quantitative and Qualitative Research
   
5. An Introduction to the Experimental Method
   
6. An Introduction to the Scientific Methods of Survey Research
   
7. An Introduction to Qualitative Methods
   
8. Peer Review, Publication, and General Acceptance
   
9. Data Analysis: An Introduction to Statistics
   
10. Psychological and Psychiatric Evidence: A Brief Overview
    
11. DNA Evidence
    

This material has been available for several years, but I am just pointing out that I think it could be helpful to any non-scientist looking to become more familiar with science and scientific methods.

[edited 12/15/09 to link to the pdf]